Chinese Nuclear Force Modernization and Doctrinal Change
Dating back to the first test in 1964, the Chinese nuclear force modernization process is motivated by other nuclear powers’ modernization across the years, mostly from the United States and the Soviet Union, but also by domestic factors such as economic debates and tensions in the scientific community.
Le retour de la haute intensité en Ukraine : quels enseignements pour les forces terrestres ?
After twenty years of counter-terrorism, the Ukrainian battlefield marks the renewal of so-called “high-intensity” warfare. It constitutes a major strategic turning point, reversing the contemporary model of wars involving the West.
War in Ukraine: Schumpeter in Sovietland ?
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Moscow’s initial plan was to use a “shock and awe” approach to conquer Kyiv quickly.
Ukraine: Between Two Peaces?
We have reentered the world of war. In its first special report, Politique étrangère offers a range of in-depth analyses of the military and political dynamics at work in a Europe that has just woken up from its dream of enduring peace. The direct confrontation between Ukraine and Russia has pitted two military and defense systems against each other, whose asymmetrical logics, strengths, and weaknesses we are discovering as the conflict unfolds.
French Special Operations What Is Their Role in the Context of Great-Power Competition?
The year 2022 marks thirty years since the creation of the Commandement des operations spéciales (COS, Special Operations Command). Those three decades have been dominated by missions carried out in volatile environments, most often against irregular adversaries, primarily terrorist groups.
Russian Elite Divided on Strategy in Ukraine but Not on Kremlin Goals There, Minic Says
Vladimir Putin is not a military strategist, and the decision to shift Russian forces from around Kyiv to the southeast in order to be in a position to defeat the Ukrainian army rather than go all out to achieve regime change now in Ukraine shows that, Dmitri Minic of the Paris Institute for International Relations says.
War In Ukraine: Why Mariupol Is A Priority Target For Russia
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the port city of Mariupol, located on the Sea of Azov, has been of great strategic interest to Moscow. Vladimir Putin has made it a symbolic objective.
The Paradigm Shift in German Security and Defence Policy After the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The German government has long hesitated to take a position on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. It has refused to question the planned commissioning of Nord Stream 2 and to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Developments in Japan’s Defense Strategies and Readiness: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
On December 18, 2018, the Japanese government issued its latest National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), marking another step in Japan’s defense planning and the readiness of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
France hopes deporting more alleged radicals will bring security
France has repatriated more than half the people it defined as radical Islamists living in the country without a residence permit since 2018. Now it wants to extend the penalty and deport even more.
The Evolving Architecture of Space and Security
Today, Europe is taking initiatives both to prevent space weaponization and to develop space militarization. While national States remain the central players in this regard, the intergovernmental European Space Agency is increasingly involved in security-related activities and the European Union is showing growing political ambitions in this area.
In Search of the Nuclear Taboo: Past, Present, and Future
One of the most puzzling - if positive - phenomena of the past half century is the non-use of nuclear weapons.
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